A page initially dedicated to coverage of the debate over whether to remove Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s statue from Lee Park in Charlottesville has evolved to cover events that propelled Charlottesville into the national spotlight.

The coverage here includes the KKK rally in July of 2017, the torch-lit white supremacist rally at the University of Virginia Rotunda, and the Unite the Right rally on August 12, 2017. We continue to document the aftermath - the mourning, the investigation, and the trials - as our community heals.

2012 - 2013 Debate over Confederate Displays and Monuments

Charlottesville City Counselor Kristin Szakos questioned the relevance of the city's Confederate monuments, saying it's time for a discussion about what the historic Confederate statues are saying about this community.

2015 debate over Charlottesville's observation of Lee-Jackson Day

Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville vote to abandon the celebration of Lee-Jackson Day, a holiday that honors two Confederate generals.

2015 Archive: Removal of Confederate Flag from VA License Plates

Attorney General Herring took legal steps to remove the Confederate battle flag from license plates in the commonwealth. In July a federal judge ruled that Virginia can ban the Confederate flag from plates issued in the future, but made no ruling on the plates already in circulation.

In response to issues surfacing related to Confederate monuments in Charlottesville, City Council established a Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials and Public Spaces to analyze the issues and make recommendations to council.

2017: City Council Votes to Remove Confederate Statues, Rename Parks

A look at the process leading up to Charlottesville City Council voting to remove the Lee and Jackson statues and rename the parks.

Two men have been convicted of removing, multiple times, the tarps that covered Confederate statues to mourn the counterprotester killed during last August's violent white nationalist rally in Virginia.